To see the anti-fraud robocall petition Democracy Watch ran last fall, click here.

To download and print the “Senate Scandal is the tip of the iceberg” sign click here, and put it up everywhere

You’ve heard lots of talk from politicians saying they are concerned about false election robocalls and enforcement of election laws, but with Elections Canada recently stating that witnesses are failing to cooperate with their investigation, it is clear politicians need to be pushed to make key changes to stop false election robocalls and strengthen enforcement.

False robocalls were received by tens of thousands of voters in more than 230 ridings during the spring 2011 federal election, and were also used to mislead voters in some recent provincial elections.

Last March, federal politicians unanimously supported Democracy Watch’s proposal to pass a law quickly to stop false election robocalls, and the NDP’s motion about the law set a deadline for this fall for the federal Conservative government to introduce the law.

To their credit, the federal Liberals introduced private member Bill C-424 last May to increase fines for false robocalls and other fraudulent attempts to sway voters from $2,000-$5,000 up to $20,000 to $50,000. The Conservatives rejected Bill C-424 on November 21, 2012.

Also to their credit, the federal NDP introduced private member Bill C-453 on October 17, 2012, sponsored by Democratic Reform Critic MP Craig Scott, that would make changes to prohibit false robocalls during federal elections and strengthen enforcement in ways that match most of Democracy Watch’s recommended changes. The federal Conservatives have blocked the NDP bill from moving forward to becoming a law.

The Alberta Conservative government introduced Bill 7 which, among other changes, requires the sponsor of any robocall to clearly identify themselves and their contact phone number and political party affiliation in the call. However, in Alberta there are also questions about the effectiveness of election officials.

In contrast, the federal Conservatives have failed to comply with the resolution they voted for by failing to introduce a government bill to prohibit election fraud robocalls by the end of September. The federal Conservatives have now violated for several months (see Robocall Restriction Violation Clock above) Parliament’s deadline for introducing a bill to restrict election fraud robocalls and strengthen election law enforcement.

Measures to make false robocalls illegal and essentially impossible will help, but there are also enforcement problems.

Elections Canada has failed to disclose the rulings it has made on more than 3,000 complaints it has received since 1997, and has recently made some very questionable rulings. Elections Canada must be required to disclose every ruling it makes to ensure it proves to Canadians that it is enforcing the law fairly and properly (and election agencies across Canada must also be required to disclose all their rulings).

So please help win these changes by joining with everyone across Canada by sending your letter now, calling not only on federal politicians to introduce and pass a law to stop false election robocalls and strengthen enforcement, but also for politicians in every province and territory to pass similar laws that apply to their provincial, territorial, and municipal elections.

And please help Democracy Watch keep this campaign going until all election laws across the country are changed to ban false robocalls and to ensure fair elections – please donate now here.

False robocalls were received by tens of thousands of voters in more than 230 ridings during the spring 2011 federal election, and were also used to mislead voters in some recent provincial elections.

Last March, federal politicians unanimously passed a motion setting a deadline for this September for the federal Conservative government to introduce a law to restrict false robocalls.

This law, which is needed at the federal level, and also in every province, territory and municipality across Canada, must require every person or company of any kind that provides any kind of calling or messaging service leading up to or during any Canadian election or by-election campaign to confirm the identity of anyone or any organization booking or sending a robocall or mass call or message before allowing any call or message to be delivered, and must require the person or organization paying for the call or message to pay in a way that identifies them clearly, and must require the call or message to identify the person or organization making and paying for the call or message.

The penalty for false election robocalls and messages must be jail terms and fines, and also that the election candidate or candidates associated with the person or organization who books or pays for the call will not be allowed to be a member of the legislature, or a Cabinet appointee, for 7 years (this is the current penalty for some types of election fraud in the federal Elections Act, and this strong penalty is needed to ensure false robocalls and messages are not used to try to win elections or by-elections). As well, anyone involved in the fraud must lose any severance payment, and have a partial clawback of any pension payments.

If these measures are not in the law, anyone will continue to be able to try to win an election by booking false robocalls under a false name.

Measures to make anonymous false robocalls illegal and essentially impossible will help, but there are also enforcement problems.

Elections Canada has failed to disclose the rulings it has made on more than 3,000 complaints it has received since 1997, and has recently made some very questionable rulings. Elections Canada must be required to disclose every ruling it has made in the past 15 years, and every ruling it makes in the future, to ensure it proves to Canadians that it enforces the law fairly and properly (and election agencies across Canada must also be required to disclose all their rulings).

Elections Canada also needs more investigative powers, especially the power to obtain court orders to require witnesses to meet with investigators so investigations are not delayed by uncooperative witnesses. Elections Canada should also be given the power, and required, to do random, regular audits of candidates, riding associations, and political parties to ensure compliance with all measures in the Canada Elections Act, and the power to obtain any information needed to complete these audits.

Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for sending your letter, and please help keep this campaign going until these key democracy reforms are won. To donate now, please click here.

NOTE: Democracy Watch will protect your privacy, and keep you informed about this campaign and others.